John lines



(No Model.)

J. LINES.

MATCH BOX.

Elm 305,941.

Patented Sept. 30, 1884.

7771eases u, Perms, Phubulhcgnphen Wuhingmu. 0.1;

' UNITED STATES & TENT I .j

' JOHN LINES, OF VVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO THE SCOVILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,941, dated September 30, 188%.

Applicationfiled February .2, 1884. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, JOHN LINES, of W'aterbnry, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Match-Boxes; and I do herebyde- 'clare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specifi cation, and represent, in

Figure l, a sectional side view of the box with the cover closed; Fig. 2, vertical central section cutting transversely of the box; Fig. 3, horizontal section; Fig. 4, sectional side view showing the cover open; Fig. 5, the flanges around the open end of the box detached; Fig. 6, top view looking intothe open end of the box.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of match-boxes which are designed to carry in the pocket, and which are constructed with a hinged cover. In the usual construction of these boxes they are made from sheet metal struck into shape, or cast. As made from sheet metal, the meeting edges are brought together so as to present a flush surface, and those edges soldered together. This construction is expensive. In many of this class of boxes the cover is hinged at one edge of the box, and a spring arranged to throw it open. This spring brings a great strain upon the hinge, because of the weakness of the stop to arrest the cover when thrown open.

The object of my invention is to construct a box from sheet metal and without solder, and also to form a strong stop to arrest the cover as it is opened; and it consists in the construction of the box, as hereinafter de scribed, and more particularly recited in the claim.

The box in general outline is the same as that of the common pocket match-box, as seen in Fig. 1, the cover being of the same shape as the box in transverse section, and is separated from the box a little distance from the top, as upon the line a, and hinged at the rear, as at b.

The body of the box A is composed of two parts, B C, out and shaped from sheet metal,

each to form one-half the box, the division between the two parts being in a vertical central plane through the front and rear, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. The edge of the one part, 0, is turned outward, to form a flange, d. The other part has a corresponding flange, 6, but

of greater extent, and so that when the two parts are set together the two flanges meet, as seen in Fig. 3, and then the broader flange is turned over the narrower flange d, and closed upon it, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, thus firmly uniting the two parts without solder. The cover is made in the same way, as seen in Fig. 2, the one part, D, constructed with the flange d, and the other part, E, constructed with the flange a, like the flanges d e on the body of the box, closed together in the same manner, and as seen in Fig. 2. This method of closing leaves a central rib extending around the front and rear and both ends of the box, which greatly strengthens it, as well as improves its appearance. The two parts are hinged to gether, as at I), Fig. 4, by the application of a hinge, one leaf of which is riveted to the respective parts, as seen in Fig. 4. The rib at the rear of the hinge is cut away to form a shoulder, f, on the cover, and h on the box, which shoulders, when the cover is opened, as seen in Fig. 4:, strike each other and form a strong stop to arrest the cover when thrown open. This construction of stop permits the employment of a simple and cheap hinge to connect the cover and the box, the stop being independent of the hinge.

Within the box a vertical spring, F, is arranged to bear against a lug, Z, on the cover, and so that so soon as the lug has passed above the central line of the hinge the spring will tend to throw the cover open, as seen in Fig. 4; but when turned down, as in broken lines, Fig. 4, to bring the lug below the central line of the hinge, then the spring will act to close the cover and hold it in its closed position, as seen in Fig. 1.

As a support for the cover in its closed condition as well as a means for breaking the joint between the two, I introduce a lip, m, upon the inner side of the box at the open end and so as to project above it, as seen in Fig. 4. This lip is made, as seen in Fig. 5, from a strip of metal a little greater in width than the extent of the lip above the edge of the box,

and bent so as to bring the two lips parallel, the bend a extending around the front of the box upon the inside, as seen in Fig. 6. This lip is riveted to the sides of the box, and so as to project above, as seen in Fig. 4, and so that as the cover closes upon the box the lip extends up within the cover and forms a sup port for the cover in its closed condition.

I am aware that boxes of various kinds have been made from sheet metal in two parts, the

' two parts united in the longitudinal center of the box, and so as to form a rib upon the outside, and that such boxes have been provided with a cover hinged thereto, and that a spring has been arranged to hold the cover in both its open and closed conditions, and that such boxes have been made with a lip upon the inside to extend up into the cover when closed, and aid in supporting the cover in its closed condition. I therefore do not claim, broadly, a box having these features.

I clain1 the one, inclosed by a corresponding flange on ,go

the other, and so as to form a rib in the central plane around the box, a cover composed of two corresponding parts, and united in like manner as the parts of the body, the cover and body hinged together, the rib formed by the union of the two portions of the body and of the cover, forming a stop to arrest the opening of the cover, the lip m, introduced around the open 'end of the body of the box to receive the cover, the spring F, secured in the box and extending up into the cover, and alug, Z, on

the cover, and extending therefrom against the spring F, substantially as described.

. JOHN LINES.

WVitnesses:

M. L. SPERRY, FRANK J. TUTTLE. 

